The technology described herein relates to graphics processing systems.
One way to display an image, such as an icon on top of a background image, is to superimpose a small image onto a background image.
In such arrangements, the foreground image is generally rendered onto the background image using a simple primitive, e.g. a quad, with more complicated shapes and effects then being created to display the desired output, e.g., icon, e.g. by using alpha blending to mask out certain parts of the foreground primitive which are transparent or translucent. The alpha (transparency) and colour values to use for the foreground primitive are usually stored in a texture associated with the foreground image primitive, which texture is then read when rendering the foreground primitive onto the background image to generate a render output, such as a frame for display.
However, the process of retrieving and using the texture can be expensive, both in terms of memory and processing, and can consume relatively large amounts of power.
The Applicant believes therefore that there remains scope for improvements to such rendering operations.